Queen of Hearts
by Kiya- Eye of the beholder
Summary: thanks to Inuyasha Kagomes heartbroken... Strange kami messes with both Kagome and Sesshoumaru!
1. Deal the cards

**Chapter 1: Deal the cards**

She flew threw the air elegantly, soaring like an eagle… Closing her eyes she smiled as she embraced the wind as it hit her face. The heat of the sun hugging her curvy form as she beamed across the sky; opening her eyes once again, ocean blue orbs gazed upon the ground beneath her… scanning it for a certain being. One whom she knew was long over due… for a heart… a heart of warmth… kindness… and dare I say it… love….

"Awe, Shippo you got them all over the place… What happened?" A grown Kagome asked kneeling down in a pile of potato chips to start picking up the playing cards that littered the ground.

"It wasn't my fault Kagome; I tried to shuffle them like I saw you do last night and Inuyasha decided to grab them from me and I wouldn't let him have them." He said glaring the best he could at the hanyou helping her clean the mess.

"Keh! None of this would've happened if you woulda' just let me have 'em you little runt!" Inuyasha spouted grabbing a potato chip off the ground and tossing it in his mouth.

"Inuyasha…" he flinched at the tone knowing what was to come next. "No Kagome plea-" "sit boy!"

Sighing she picked up some more cards and started to count them. "Hey Shippo I'm missing one have you seen-" "Here ya go Kagome!" he said with a smiles handing her the Queen of hearts.

Kagome looked down at the card and accepted it with a smile. She looked at the card with a long face. This card was her favorite card of them all. The Queen of hearts… She often wondered what it would be like to be the queen of hearts, to have every heart of a man that desired you and even every heart of those who didn't.

She could make them love her and she could break hearts. She could control everything the heart would feel and could probably make even the coldest of hearts… love…

"Kagome did you hear me?" Shippo asked staring up at the miko.

Kagome shook her head a little to clear her thoughts. "No Shippo I'm sorry. What was it that you said?" she said with a small smile ready to put the card in the pile with the others, but Shippo grabbed it from her hands.

"Who is this lady you were looking at?" He asked pointing at the woman on the face of the card.

Kagome only smiled at his curiosity. "That's the queen of hearts Shippo." He looked at her tilting his head to the side a bit then looked at the woman on the card.

"She beautiful Kagome" He said in awe as he looked at the card. Kagome owned no ordinary set of playing cards. She had hers special made the aces, kings, queens, and the jacks were her own designs. She took them to a printer in her time and had a special make of cards made for her.

In her opinion they were all beautiful, but the queen of hearts she put she most effort in. The most detail and the most time, she thought the queen of hearts to be a beautiful strong elegant woman.

Shippo looked at the wild patterns on the woman's kimono. The colors blended in with one another you couldn't tell where one color started and where the other finished. The use of pinks and reds were very well meshed. From what he could tell her hair was neatly tangled in what looked like decorative chopsticks.

Her face was sharp and soft at the same time. The eyes, her eyes are what gave her face sharpness. She was made with a long thin body her kimono fitting her top side like it was painted on as the bottom half flowed like a never ending river. And to finish the beautiful piece of art, a glowing heart hovered above the palm of her hand.

Kagome smiled as she watched him gaze upon the woman she worked so hard in creating. "Thank you Shippo. I'm glad you like it."

Handing her the card with a smile he then turned to start cleaning up the chips all over the ground. While trying to take the cards Inuyasha tossed a bag of potato chips at him in attempt to try and make Shippo let go.

Kagome put the cards back in their case and looked at Shippo. "I'll get that Shippo you run off and play a little okay." she said with a smile. Shippo looked at her and nodded his head and took off.

Turning to face the hanyou that caused the mess in the first place she found that he was gone. "Inuyasha?" she said looking around only to see mile of grass surrounding her. Walking off a little she tried to feel his aura. "Inuyaaaashaaaa" she yelled. 'I wonder where he ran off to.' She thought as she walked a little further reaching the wooded area.

A rustle in the bushes made her stop in her tracks. "Hello?" she said a little timidly slowly approaching the bush. She squeaked as a bunny popped out surprising her. Putting her hand over her heart she spat at the bunny as it hopped away from her. "What're you trying to do give me a heart attack!"

Letting out a breath she headed into the woods in search of Inuyasha. Hearing a slight noise to her left she turned and slowly approached to what sounded like voices. "Inuyasha? Is that you?" she said as she came into a clearing only to duck behind a tree quickly.

'K-Kikyo' she thought as her heart raced. Peering around the tree her eyes went as wide as saucers. She couldn't believe it. Right before her was Inuyasha and Kikyo… Kissing…

Her heart sunk with a terrible pain and only did so more as she watched Inuyasha start to remove Kikyo's top. At seeing this Kagome ran she didn't know where she was going and she didn't care all she wanted to do was get away.

Get away from the pain that's filling her body. Get away from the one who asked her to be his mate… tonight… 'Inuyasha, how could you?' she thought sourly as she kept running. 'All this time… All this time!' her running slowed. 'I thought I was the one. I thought I had won your heart, that you had forgotten about her… chose me. Chose to love me…' "I guess I was wrong." She said to herself as she stopped in her tracks. Kagome looked up into the sky as a tear slowly trailed down her cheek.

A rain drop quickly following the tear washing it away. Falling to her knees she stayed there as she let the rain fall on her body. She closed her eyes as her face still looked to the sky. 'The rain… please… please wash away this pain… Inuyasha…' was her last thought before she broke down into tears falling to her hands.

"It's really pouring out there." said Miroku as he came in from his search

"Did you find them?" Sango said looking at the monk with concern.

"No. I couldn't even trace Inuyasha's aura…" he sat next to Sango and discarded his soaked outer robe. "But I'm sure that they're fine Sango. Inuyasha won't let anythi-"

"Man its dropping waterfalls out there." Shouted Inuyasha as he walked in the little hut then shook like a dog to dry himself off some.

"Inuyasha where's Kagome?" Miroku asked noticing that the little miko didn't follow in behind the inu like always.

"How should I know. Last I saw her she was cleaning up the mess Shippo made" "With YOUR help!" Shippo shouted from his spot of the floor.

"Why you-" Inuyasha was silenced by Miroku putting his foot to the hanyou's head "Inuyasha we need to find Kagome. We haven't seen her all day and she's obviously not with you. So put your musings with Shippo aside and help us find her." He said as he put his damp robe back on and headed back outside with Sango in tow.

"Keh!" was all he said as he headed out as well.

'Warmth… I feel… warm' thought a hazy mind. Slowly blinking open her eyes Kagome saw a fuzzy figure in her vision. "Your awake! Father she has woken!" a young boy shouted.

Sitting straight up Kagome opened her mouth to speak but stopped as a man grabbed her shoulder and slowly pushed her back to lie down. "You should get some rest young one. You've been out in the rain for quite sometime." The man said with a small smile.

"Who… Who are you? How did I get here?" she asked looking at the man. Her mind was starting to clear from her hazy state.

"My name is Kenji and this is my son Taro." He said in a soft voice introducing himself and his son.

"We found you in the middle of a field on our way home. You must have been there for some time for you were shaking almost violently. You're lucky we found you when we did or you would have surely died." The man said placing a warm rag on her forehead.

"Luckily you are not sick." He said. "Taro go fetch some more water we will need it for evening meal." "Yes father" the young boy headed out the door but took one last look at the girl bundled up in his bed before leaving.

'Three hours and still no Kagome…' thought Inuyasha as he scanned the area once again from the top of a tree. He thought that he might have a better shot at spotting her from an elevated area. "Dammit Kagome where are you?" he said taking one last look before turning in for the night to get some rest.

Inuyasha covered his ears instantly as he walked into the hut. Shippo obviously wasn't taking the news lightly and it got worse when he came in without Kagome. "Shut up will ya runt!" he shouted plopping down in a corner.

"Inuyasha at least be a little sensitive, Kagome was like a mo-" "Stop Sango you don't have to say it ok! I already know." Inuyasha cut her off harshly then laid down with his back to the group. '…Kagome…'

Sango glared at the inu and opened her mouth to say something but Miroku put his hand on her shoulder to grab her attention. She looked at him then to the floor. She missed her sister like friend already. "We'll head out at the crack of dawn and start looking again Sango… She couldn't have gone too far." He said in reassurance then settled himself in a mat to get some rest.

Sighing Sango laid down as well, though sleep was not going to come easy for her this night she could at least try. She felt Shippo curl up in her side and she softly smiles and patted his head lightly. 'Kagome I hope you're safe… wherever you are…' she thought before she closed her eyes to try and get some sleep.


	2. Understanding the game

Chapter 2: Understanding the game

Kagome go up and walked just outside of the hut and sat by the door. She could ask nicer people to find her. The man was as nice as they come. 'Kinda reminds me of Hojo' she thought amusingly. His son was charming and funny and was as nice as his father.

She leaned her head back against the hut and looked at the clear night sky. It's been a couple weeks since she's been with Kenji and Taro. As she thought she fell ill. And that took a couple days to get over.

Kagome sighed she felt that she had over stayed her welcome. Not only that she needed to get back to… she closed her eyes, the thought of going back and facing Inuyasha was something she didn't want to do at the moment.

'I wanna go home…' she thought sadly. But she knew that going to the well would mean that there would be a chance of running into Inuyasha. Squeezing her eyes shut she heaved a sigh.

"Kagome? Are you ok?" Taro asked as he walked outside. "Yeah I'm ok Taro… Just thinking is all. That and I needed some air. I've been cooped up in the hut for the past couple of days" she said with a little amusement smiling at the boy as he sat down next to her.

Taro laughed "Yeah I can see where you would need some air for that. Fresh air is good for those who are just coming out from being sick too." He smiled at her and received one in return.

He looked to the sky and gazed at the stars. "So what's on your mind?" He shifted his gaze to her. "I know something's bothering you."

Kagome looked at him then to the ground "It's complicated… there's this guy…" she trailed off. "I see… and what about this guy bothers you?" he inquired.

"It's a really long story Taro… But to cut it short, he likes this girl who died a long time ago. Then I came along and I look a lot like her but were totally different personality wise…" "Go on" Taro insisted as he listened to her story.

"She was brought back to life by a witch and now every time she shows her face he runs to her… just a couple weeks ago he asked me to be his mate and I agreed to him and then I found that mutt in the woods about to indulge himself with that... that THING!" she practically shouted.

Taro put his hand over her mouth to quiet her outburst a little. "Shhh, Kagome you'll wake father." He said smiling a little. Boy did she have fire. "Sorry" she said quietly behind his hand and then smiled.

Removing his hand he spoke, "So I take it that he's a demon of sorts?" "Well he's half demon." She said. Taro nodded his head. "It makes sense now. He in his heart does and doesn't know what he wants…" He looked at Kagome "he has the heart of a human there fore feels like a human… He's confused but sure at the same time… Maybe when he talks to you and asks you something he thinks that he is asking the woman whom is so much like you." He said looking at her.

Kagome took that into consideration for a moment then looked even worse than before. 'So when Inuyasha talked to me he saw Kikyo…' she thought sadly… then a thought came to mind. "Hey how come you aren't disgusted that I would mate with a youkai?" she asked.

Taro smiled at the girl next to him once again. "I see no reason why a human and a demon can not be together… We are two beings, are we not? I don't look at demons like others do…" he looked to the sky as he spoke. "I was once with a demoness… She was great… Kind and sweet, acted much like you." He looked at her again. "She was my everything… But over time she was betroth to another." "I'm sorry…" he heard Kagome speak, he put his hand over hers as he continued.

"She was a royal and as such could not be with a human… She of course protested to her sire, professing her love to a human to him. But he did not see outside the demon law and claimed that her 'love' was nothing more than a fling. She was not going to disgrace the family name by being mated/married to a human… So my beloved gave in to her sire…" he blinked away a couple tears at the memory of his sweet Kara.

Kagome smiled at the boy, he understood what it was like to love a demon. He also understood where she was coming from. 'I can see that he still loves her… if only Inuyasha were like you Taro…' she thought and lightly squeezed the boys hand to give him some comfort.

Looking down at their hands he smiled and released his hand and patted Kagome's lightly. "You should get some rest Kagome it'll be awhile before dawn." Taro said as he stood. "You go on ahead I'll be in, in a little bit." Kagome said smiling.

Taro bowed to her and said his goodnights before heading into the hut. Kagomes sighed and looked to the sky once again. 'I wonder if Taro's right… I wonder if all this time Inuyasha imagined that I was Kikyo…' shaking her head at her thoughts she stared into the dark sky.

He could smell the scent. It was sweet and intoxicating. It was the scent of roses and cherries. Narrowed golden orbs looked sharply to the sky. 'Hn…' was his only thought.

It would be a while before it or what got close to be any threat. He could tell it was a demon or a demon of sorts. He could feel its aura from where he stood. But it wasn't threatening it was… warm…

Turning his head he ran his fingers through his long silver locks and continued his stroll through the forest.

'It will make its self known in due time.' He thought as he looked for intruders on the western lands in the wee hours of the night.

After an hour or so Kagome walked in the hut and looked at Kenji and Taro's sleeping forms on the ground. She smiles warmly and went to the little table and grabbed a piece of paper and a writing implement and started to compose a note of thanks.

A moment later Kagome quietly walked over to Taro and softly kissed his forehead and stood and walked to the doorway. She gazed upon the two who cared for her so kindly for the past two weeks. She smiled and whispered 'thank you' then left the hut. Dawn was near and she had no time to waist.

'The well obviously isn't a safe place to go right now considering the moment that I reach Edo Inuyasha will sniff me out.' she thought as she walked through the forest. "Where am I gonna go for now?" She asked herself in wonder.

Stopping by a stream she kneeled down and scooped up some water with her hands and took a sip. Looking off into the horizon she could see that the sun ready to make a new day. She then looked into the sky.

Her eyes went wide as a misty stream of pinkish red shot across the sky.

Sensing one of her 'projects' nearby, the woman emitted a shimmery dust as she passed over the young miko.

Smiling as she passed by she kept on her way.

Kagome stood as she watched this light pass by and had the urge to touch her arms and rub them. Looking at her hands she could see something sparkly, 'glitter?' she thought mysteriously.

Then it dawned on her. She thought of whom she could _try_ to convince to let her stick around for a while. 'I doubt he would… but it's worth a shot!' she thought with determination and started walking off to find the demon lord.

'Now the tricky part is to find him.' She thought dryly knowing all too well that it would be next to impossible to find Sesshoumaru.


	3. Slap jack

Chapter 3: Slap Jack

"Inuyasha c'mon your not gonna give up on looking for Kagome now are ya?" Shippo yelled jumping on the hanyou's laying form.

Inuyasha twitched an ear and gritted his teeth before grabbing Shippo by the middle of his tiny body. "DO YA MIND I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!" he shouted causing Shippo's hair to stick straight back from his head by the force of wind that came from his shout.

Blinking his eyes repeatedly Shippo glared at the inu. "Inuyasha, how can you think of sleep when we got searching to do? KAGOMES STILL OUT THERE!" he started then shouted back.

"We've been looking for two weeks Shippo, were doing the best we can." Sango stated calmly taking the kitsune from Inuyashas grip. "But I want Kagome. I miss her…" He said sadly hugging himself to Sango.

Sango smiled weakly as she ran her fingers through his fluffy red hair. She missed Kagome a great deal too, she often wondered if they would ever find her. Though two weeks have passed she still holds hope that she'll turn up sooner or later.

Stretching his limbs, Inuyasha pulled himself into a sitting position on the floor. Yawning loudly making the hut walls shake from the noise. "ahhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" "Inuyasha keep thy mouth shut unless ye want the walls to collapse on ye." Kaede said as she entered the hut with some water with Miroku in tow.

"Good morning everyone!" Miroku greeted his companions as he made his way to sit next to Sango. Looking at the little vixen he smiled at her. Sango smiled back but kept her suspicions high on the monk and his _hand_.

Taking her eyes from the monk she leaned over to take the cup of tea that was offered by Kaede. 'Now's my chance!' thought Miroku with a lecherous grin… For a split second Sango went wide eyed then swiftly turned to face the monk, cheeks flues with red.

"PERVERT!" "No Sango pl-" Sango cut him off by hitting him over the head. "Is that all you think about? I mean c'mon there are more things to do than grope my bottom!" She spat at the monk rubbing his very sore head.

Inuyasha and Shippo both shook their heads, they knew he wouldn't learn even if he got a million blow to the head by the demon slayer. 'Stupid monk.' Inuyasha thought dryly.

Sticking his nose in the air Inuyasha got up and headed out of the hut without a word. "Hey Inuyasha where you going?" asked Shippo, but Inuyasha didn't answer him. Raising an eyebrow Sango whispered something into Miroku's ear, nodding he got up and left the hut as well.

Slowly and cautiously following the inu Miroku found himself in the woods safely hidden behind a tree. Watching Inuyasha, 'I wonder what he's waiting for…' he thought as he looked upon the hanyou.

As he was about to come out from behind the tree and ask Inuyasha what he was doing he heard an emotionless voice. His eyes went wide a bit 'That voice… it… it can't be…' still gazing at where Inuyasha was she appeared.

There stood Kikyo in her gloominess. Miroku watched the couple closely and listened very carefully.

"Inuyasha I'm tired of meeting like this…" she said walking towards him. "I know Kikyo but I don't want anyone to know until we've found Kagome…" He looked to the ground. "She's still out there… we haven't found her yet…" He closed his eyes feeling that it was somehow it was his fault.

Kikyo shifted her gaze away from him; she knew why Kagome was gone. She saw the girl run in on them those couple weeks ago. She didn't have the nerve to tell Inuyasha about it though. At least not till now.

"Inuyasha I know why Kagome is gone…" Looking up at her he immediately glared at her. "Where is she Kikyo? If you know then you must have something to do with it." He spat accusingly. Kikyo put up her hands, "It was both our faults Inuyasha" She told him sternly. He only looked at her "Both our faults?" Kikyo nodded "She ran in on us a couple weeks ago. I can only suspect that she ran away after what she saw."

'Kagome ran off because of me… again…' he thought sadly. Looking to the ground Inuyasha sighed and pulled Kikyo into a hug. "We need to find her Kikyo… Who knows what kind of trouble she's inn." She only nodded in agreement lightly running her hand down his back. She knew he was right and she would help her mate find his friend.

Miroku ran into the hut after he heard the reason why Kagome was missing. "Miroku are you alright?" Sango asked the heavily breathing monk, quickly she grabbed some water and handed it to his "Here drink this." She offered

Miroku took the cup nodding his head in thanks and gulped it down. Catching his breath he recomposed himself and took in a deep breath before he spoke. "I have some news on Kagome… it seems that Inuyasha and Kikyo are mated." Sango's mouth gaped "But in the process of the… mating… supposedly Kagome walked in on it undetected and then ran off." After he finished he looked at Sango and liked to shrink where he sat.

The look on her face was scary beyond reason. 'That basterd mated to that clay pot after ha asked Kagome to… ugh!' she thought with much anger. Balling her fists at her sides she grabbed her hiraikotsu and walked outside to await the hanyou's arrival.

Somewhere in the forest Kagome huffed slumping her shoulders. She felt like she'd been walking for hours. She did stop awhile back to take a little nap. She woke with a cramped back and a twig in her hair. 'I need a bath' she thought tiredly. Who knew looking for Sesshoumaru could be so hard.

Kagome stopped and plopped herself on the forest floor. She had been walking most of the morning and well into the afternoon nonstop. Well she did stop to take a bathroom…err, bush break and stopped to grab some berries and water so she would have some nourishment. But right at this very second her body and mind screamed 'BATH'. Groaning she took her shoes and socks off to give her feet some air.

Stuffing her socks into her shoes she grabbed them and stood up and started to walk. Kagome smiled softly as she walked on the plushy grass feeling it run between her toes making her giggle lightly from she slight ticklish feeling it caused.

A mile or so Kagome stopped in her tracks as the sight of steam and the sound of something trickling filled her ears. She smiled really big 'WATER!' "HOT SPRING!" she shouted and ran off in the direction of the steam.

Shoes flying out of her hands as she skidded to a stop Kagome's eyes were as big and round as softballs. Her face turned completely red at the sight before her…


	4. Jokers wild

**Chapter 4: Jokers Wild**

Kagome stood there as red as a tomato, she couldn't move, couldn't speak. It was like everything about her was frozen like ice. All she could do is stand there and hope and pray that she didn't get killed on the spot for intruding… even though her actions were merely innocent.

The figure before her was, yes, whom she was looking for all this time… but she didn't think she'd run into him like this. 'Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!' was all that was running through her head.

Kagome's eyes wandered on their own accord as they looked all over a bare backed Sesshoumaru 'he's… he's… he's NAKED!' she screamed in her mind and turned even redder. 'Yup I'm totally dead…'

The being before her looked over his shoulder and said voice low and cold "Miko do you not see this Sesshoumaru is bathing? Leave at once." He demanded coolly.

Kagome still stood where she was not believing that she was still alive right now. 'Better count my blessings and leave Kags. This is probably your only shot.' She thought with haste but her body still wouldn't move.

Noticing that she has not left as ordered Sesshoumaru turned to face her eyes narrowed and glaring deadly at her. "Miko you are to leave this area or you will suffer greatly." His words sounded sincere. Though Kagome couldn't recall anytime when he didn't back up his threats.

If she could be any more red she would. She was a girl and as such loved to gaze upon bodies of good looking men. And Sesshoumaru was by far the most… Kagome's eyes shot wide once again at her thoughts. 'C'mon Kagome get a grip of yourself this is Sesshoumaru, Lord Stick up the ass I hate humans.' She mentally slapped herself.

But she couldn't help but to gaze upon his water beaded chest… Sesshoumaru could feel the changes in her aura shift from nervousness, to fear, to comfort and dare he say it… arousal? A human? Desiring his body? He internally cringed at the thought.

Kagome gulped and breathed in deeply to speak. 'Here goes…' "Sesshoumaru- sama I need to talk to you about something." Narrowing his eyes even more if possible he pondered her request for a moment as he examined her. 'The miko is usually with the whelp when traveling… so she is obviously alone… hm.' "Where is the half breed?"

Kagome looked at his muscular chest for a moment more before shifting her gaze to his face noticing that he was waiting for an answer. "Oh, uhh, I left him…" She looked to the ground. "He obviously doesn't want anything to do with me so I set out on my own… though I wasn't planning on heading out so unprepared… It was a… sudden leave." She finished giggling nervously, finding control of her limbs again. 'Guess I was more scared than I thought.' She mused as she kicked at the grass sheepishly.

Sesshoumaru watched her as she effortlessly assaulted the grass with her dainty bare foot. 'Just as I thought…hm… so she is alone…'

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two and Kagome started to shift back and forth on her feet unable to stand the quietness. 'C'mon Sesshoumaru say something already.' She hopefully cheered.

His stare was making her uncomfortable and the silence wasn't helping either. "Leave to the clearing just outside the tree line and this Sesshoumaru will be there in a moment." Came his emotionless monotone.

Kagome looked up at him stunned for a moment but quickly headed off to the clearing. 'Better go while I have the chance… and before he changes his mind.' She thought dryly.

Sesshoumaru internally sighed; he knew the little miko was making a bee line for the hot spring. He could feel her holy powers a ways back, so he knew the act was innocent. Though, he did ponder on killing her when she intruded like she did.

Stepping out of the spring, Sesshoumaru's warm aura drying off his skin instantly, he began to clothe himself thinking of the miko while he did so. He wondered what she could want. Surely to ask for something of him since she was now traveling alone.

Straightening his haori he decided that was why she has seeked him out. To request something of him, 'Foolish human, you dare seek out this Sesshoumaru for a favor…' he thought in a cold manner placing on his armor.

High up in a tree sharp ocean blue eyes gazed upon the demon lord as he dressed himself. She smirked; he was as cold as they came. He would defiantly be fun to toy with. Turning transparent her long curvy body floated down like a feather and ever so lightly she landed behind the young lord, following in his footsteps as he headed towards the miko.

Sesshoumaru stopped only for a second to look over his shoulder "Hn…" was all he said and kept on his way.

Kagome looked at where she had just come from and saw Sesshoumaru heading in her direction. Sighing she stood up straight and squared her shoulders ready to face the lord. Sesshoumaru stopped about three feet in front of her before he spoke.

"You seek something of this Sesshoumaru." He stated more than asked

Kagome looked at him feeling her confidence start to wither away 'awwe why does he have to look at me like he wants me to melt into a puddle…' she mentally groaned. "Yes Sesshoumaru I- "

"I am your superior you will address this Sesshoumaru as Lord or Sesshoumaru- sama." He corrected.

Kagome huffed and slightly glared at him "You don't have to be so arrogant you know. I came here to ask you a favor." She spat

"You will get no favors from anyone acting like that" he said smugly, smirking as her anger spiked.

"You JERK!" she shouted and stepped closer to him.

Sesshoumaru took a step back from her narrowing his eyes "Before you try to come any closer miko, I would suggest that bathe." He shot at her and Kagome only flushed from her anger and stepped directly in front of him and poked at his chest ready to give him a piece of her mind.

The woman behind Sesshoumaru could only shake her head, taking a ghostly hand she reached inside of Sesshoumaru's chest from the back and ran her finger lightly along the side of his heart.

"Show some compassion Sesshoumaru. She's been traveling for a long time now." She softly spoke. Though neither Sesshoumaru nor Kagome would hear her, she still felt the need to speak.

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened a fraction at the sudden warmth in his chest. Looking down at the miko that was shouting at him he grabbed the offending appendage still staring at her intensely.

Kagome looked up at Sesshoumaru with an angered face but her anger faded into wonder and worry… "Sess-" "Bathe miko and I shall wait here to hear your reasons for seeking me out." his voice had a hard softness to it. But sounded sincere so Kagome only raised an eyebrow snatching her finger away from his grip and walked off to the spring mumbling to herself about arrogant dogs and their mood swings.

The woman smiled and dissipated leaving a light mist of pinkish red behind. Sesshoumaru caught the scent of roses and cherries again and turned swiftly to see where the being who owned such a smell was located. 'That scent... was right here…' "In this exact spot… Hn…"

He then looked down and pulled the front of his haori out to examine his chest, only to see flawless skin. 'The warmth was there… I felt it. Like hot air was on it…' he thought curiously.

Straightening his haori he went and sat by a tree to wait for the miko.

Sinking into the hot water, Kagome heaved a happy sigh and sank all the way under. 'This feels soooo nice.' She thought feeling in total bliss. Resurfacing she made a face 'what a time to run off without your backpack Kagome, ugh!' she scolded herself.

Running her hand along her arm in attempt to get it clean she looked along the edge of the hot spring and saw that Sesshoumaru had left his bathing oils. 'SCORE!' she cheered smiling big as the grabbed the little vile and poured some of its contents into her hand.

Sighing happily she started so scrub her body, getting rid of the dirt and sweat of the day. 'Figures it has no smell to it…' she thought dryly dunking in the water. 'I wouldn't expect anything less from Sesshoumaru.' She giggled a little thinking about Sesshoumaru walking around smelling like roses and honey because he used a scented bath oil.

Rolling her eyes at the thought she grabbed the other vile and poured that into her palm as well. This one had a little scent to it but not too strong. It was a very light scent. 'Smells like dove' she thought with amusement as she started to scrub her hair with care.

Dunking under the water once again she resurfaced and rested in the water for a minute or so before stepping out. Standing in her naked glory, Kagome just realized she had nothing clean to put on.

Wrapping her arms around her torso in an attempt to cover her body, Kagome stood there shivering as the cool breeze gently caressed her skin slowly drying her. 'Great Kagome now what are you gonna do? Put the same dirty smelly clothes you just had on to get clean?' she groaned to herself.

"Now what?" she mused to herself out loud. Looking back at the spring and to where Sesshoumaru is waiting she contemplated for a second… 1. She could hop back into the spring and call for the Demon lord, or 2. She could hide behind a tree and ask him if he could find her something to wear.

She sighed, neither sounded like something she wanted to do, but she felt that she had no choice.

Back in Edo Sango waited a few feet outside the hut tapping her foot impatiently. 'Wait till I get my hands on you Inuyasha.' She ranted in her head. Pursing her lips together in anger, she narrowed her eyes as a little spot of red became visible from the tree line.

Walking towards the hut as if nothing had happened Inuyasha stopped about 100 feet from the hut feeling A LOT of tension and anger floating in the air. 'That's not good…' he thought, and continued forward.

Eye's turning into a glare Sango took a stance and prepared her hiraikotsu. Waiting just a moment longer she swung her weapon at the hanyou with all she had. "HIRAIKOTSU!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Inuyasha hearing the shout turned to look behind him to see if there was danger, but found nothing. Looking back at where he heard Sango his eyes shot wide and quickly dodged the weapons attack.

"Sango! What the hell?" he shouted.

"You've got some nerve Inuyasha! Doing what you did to Kagome AGAIN!" she shot running towards him swinging her hiraikotsu wildly at him. Jumping from left to right Inuyasha tried to register what was going on. Mistaking her swing he took a blow in the side making him fly a few feet away crashing to the ground.

"I can't believe you would go to **her** after asking Kagome to be your mate! You disgraceful, untrusting, bastard!" she yelled at the hanyou slamming the end of her weapon between the junction of his legs.

Audibly gulping Inuyasha looked into the pissed off face of Sango. "S-Sango I didn't do anything to Kagome… I-I just c-changed my mind." He stammered out. Sango's eyes only grew darker.

"Changed your mind?" her voice was deep and dark. Feeling her anger rise he scooted away a couple inches, but was quickly stopped when she drew her sword and stick it through the fabric of his hakamas.

"Where do you think your scooting off too?" she said still looking at him like a piece of dead meat. "Sango please, it's already over. I've mated Kikyo and there's nothing anyone cane do about it now. It's too late." He said with anger in his eyes.

"Kagome will forgive me she always does." "Don't give me that you poor excuse of a K-9! Kagome's been gone for weeks now, don't you think if she found forgiveness in her heart that she'd be back!" she shouted tears starting to form in her eyes.

Inuyasha could only look to the ground. She had a point; Kagome always forgave him in a day or two... It's been weeks now and even with their searching the came out with nothing.

'Kagome… I'm sorry' he thought and bowed his head feeling totally guilty. A calmness taking over her, she breathed in deeply. Looking at the hanyou she made a shameful face at him.

Grabbing her sword and seethed it, then held out her hand. Opening his eyes Inuyasha looked at her hand then looked at her face. He could see the hurt in her eyes, and very little evidence showed on her face.

He knew she missed Kagome, and was only taking her anger out on the rightful being. He knew he deserved it too. 'I have to find her… I must find Kagome.' He thought as he grabbed Sango's hand and pulled himself up.

Smiling weakly Sango opened her mouth to speak, "Inuy-" "Sango don't. I know why you did what you did." He cut her off then turned and started towards the woods again. "Where are you going?" she shouted at his retreating form.

"To find Kagome" he shouted back then ran off, disappearing into the trees.

Growing impatient waiting for the miko, Sesshoumaru gracefully stood and started towards the hot spring.

"Ughrrr… what am I gonna do… I can't put those smelly things back on." She mused to herself out loud. "But I defiantly can't walk around naked either, errrr." Kagome became discouraged, but stopped in her tracks of mumbling to herself when she heard a noise coming her way.

Eyes going wide she had to think quickly. Bouncing back and forth on her feet she was trying to think of what to do. 'Oh my GOD! Somebody's coming and I'm standing in my birthday suit!' she thought frantically.

Just as the noise hit to where she was, Kagome jumped into the hot spring with a big splash.

Sesshoumaru walked were the spring was and saw water splashed outside the little rocky wall that surrounded the hot spring. Shifting his gaze towards the middle of the water he saw a head slowly surface to the top.

Raising her head out of the water Kagome let out a breath of relief when she saw that it was only Sesshoumaru. "Phew, it's only you." she sighed happily then just looked at him.

Sesshoumaru only raised his eyebrow at the strange miko. She was an odd onna that was for sure. "Miko, this Sesshoumaru has things to attend to. Why are you wasting time?" he stated and then demanded an explanation.

Kagome huffed crossing her arms over her chest making her bust line appear bigger, the action not going unnoticed by the taiyoukai. "Well for your information mister stiffy, I'm quite finished with my bath. I just don't have anything clean to put on." She said as a matter of factly.

Looking at her boredly he looked at the clothing on the ground, if he was one to show his disgust outwardly, he would've scrunched his nose. The clothing did smell of sweat and dirt.

She must've fallen into mud puddles and didn't bother to clean up, instead just going on with her business, sweating like a dog as the sun cooked her skin. With that thought he wouldn't even tell her to wash the ragged things in the spring, to even try to clean them. No, they were just too worn. In all honesty he was starting to wonder how much of a klutz the miko truly was.

"Helloooo, Sesshoumaru?" she said trying to grab his attention. Looking from the clothes to the miko, Sesshoumaru internally sighed. He had one of three options at this point. The first option is that he could leave and forget what the miko wanted to talk to him about. The second option was that he could go to a near by village and grab her a komono to wear. The last option he didn't even want to think about.

Deciding that she was not going to get out of the spring unless she had something to wear, Kagome stayed in the water and looked at him. 'What is he gonna do just look at me… I mean c'mon I'm naked for peak sakes.' With that thought Kagome blushed remembering that she was nude and subconsciously sunk into the water.

Sesshoumaru noticed her blush as she sunk in the water; he could only smirk arrogantly. "Do not flatter yourself miko, this Sesshoumaru has no interest in gazing upon your body. Nor would I have any desire too." He said in a bored tone internally smirking when he heard her huff with anger. Decision made he removed his outer robe and tossed it to her, not wanting to waist any more time.

"As if I was thinking that. It was getting cold." She shot at him lying through her teeth. Sesshoumaru of course knew but let it slide. Kagome waded to the side and reached out for the robe, careful to keep her top half covered as she stretched out. Grabbing it she pulled it to her then looked at Sesshoumaru, he only raised his brow.

"uhhh… Do you mind turning around or leaving so I can get out?" she said with a smile. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at her, who dose she think she is telling him to leave, and after he'd given her his outer robe to cover herself. "Hm.." was his response as he turned and started to walk back to the clearing.

Kagome watched to make sure he was gone before getting out of the hot spring. Pulling the robe around her tiny body, she stuck her arms through the sleeves and tied the obi around her waist to keep everything in place. Making sure she looked somewhat decent she walked to where Sesshoumaru had gone, not bothering to take the clothes with her.

Looking down at herself she had to smile a little. His robe did look good on her, though the sleeves were a bit too long it fitted her nicely, least she thought so.

'They're too much of a mess to do anything with. I'll just let them sit there.' She thought dismissively. Walking into the clearing she saw Sesshoumaru sitting of the ground, resting against a tree.

Walking up to him slowly, she sat in front of him a couple feet away. Sesshoumaru shifted his eyes to look at her. He let them travel all the way down to her crossed legs. He had to admit, but only to himself, she did wear his robe quite well… for a human that is.

It hugged her top half slightly tight, cleavage showing ever so slightly atop the V line where the fabrics over lapped one another. Her tiny waist line was very pronounced with the obi tied tightly around it to keep anything from slipping out of place while she wore the oversized garb.

"Sesshoumaru I-" "Sesshoumaru- sama girl" he cut her off as he was brought out of his musings. Kagome took in a breath to keep her nerves from getting shot. "Sesshoumaru- _sama, _as you know I am traveling alone." She stopped to make sure he was listening. Her only indication was that he raised an eyebrow.

"I'm asking if I could join you on your travels or at least ask that I have some supplies so I can venture on my own." She said quickly to get it over with.

Sesshoumaru only looked boredly at her, already knowing that she was going to ask such a question. He stared at her a bit more before speaking. "This Sesshoumaru shall take you to his palace, by then I will contemplate your fate." With that said he rose and began to leave, leaving a stunned Kagome where she sat.

Kagome sat there in shock, she didn't know if what he said was real or not. 'I need to be pinched… did he just say he'd consider the offer, after he takes me to his palace?' Kagome was so engrossed in her thoughts; she failed to see that Sesshoumaru had gotten up to leave.

Looking over his shoulder at the still form of the miko he spoke again. "Miko are you coming?" Hearing his words brought her back to reality, shaking her head she smiled and stood.

Dusting off his robe, she followed behind the demon lord with a slight smile 'maybe he ain't so bad after all.' She thought looking at his broad back as she walked a little faster to keep pace with his long strides.


	5. Go fish!

**Chapter 5: Go fish!**

Trees and bushes whipping by like lightening, Inuyasha ran as fast as his legs would take him. He didn't know where to look for her first. Questions were running through his head a mile a minute.

Is she ok? Is she still alive? Is she being held captive by some gross demon and being used to be a – Inuyasha closed his eyes for a second and shook his head of all thoughts, Kagome wouldn't let herself get into **that** much danger would she? …

With all the rain the area has had a couple weeks ago, it made his quest even harder, for it washed out the scents in the air. With no scent it made it hard to even try to pinpoint a location to start his search. So he ran, and he could run until he caught something, even if it was the slightest scent.

Walking for what seemed like hours; Kagome huffed and plopped on the ground, kicked her shoes off and started to rub her feet. Stopping Sesshoumaru looked over his shoulder to see that the miko has decided to stop their travels.

He narrowed his eyes at her form, who was she to decide when they stopped? He was the alpha and as such made decisions for his pack. Thought the miko wasn't any pack of his; over the years he came to see her as an ally, but because she was currently traveling with him, he would consider her temporary pack… That is until he made his decision of weather or not she would be traveling with him permanently…

Turning to face her he looked down at her. 'Pathetic human.' he thought as he watched her rub her feet... Feeling like she was getting holes burned into her flesh, Kagome looked up to see a rather annoyed looking Sesshoumaru. "Something wrong?" she asked still rubbing her sore foot.

"This Sesshoumaru is your alpha for the time being and as such makes the decisions." He stated coldly glaring at her. Kagome wanted to roll her eyes at his 'superior' attitude. 'He can be such a jerk.' She thought pursing her lips tightly together. "Well I'm sorry Mister Almighty, we've been walking for hours nonstop and my feet are starting to hurt." She said in a snippy tone.

Sesshoumaru looked at her face boredly. He internally grinned, for some reason aggravating the miko excited him. Putting that thought aside he then walked over to a tree and sat underneath it. Not wanting to argue with her at for the time being.

No, he would let her slide this one time. They have been walking for sometime. He had to say he was impressed; most humans would've started complaining that they were tired and hungry.

But not the miko, no, she grabbed berries as they passed by berry bushes while they walked and he never heard a peep out of her that she was tired and needed rest. Though she would talk some kind of nonsense and expect him to answer her, but he never did. He guessed that dealing with his half brother all this time made her just keep her mouth shut about complaining and go along till he thought it was best to stop.

Sesshoumaru snorted lightly through his nose, his pathetic brother was no leader that was for sure. I mean sure he protected his pack the best he could, but as for providing for them and making sure they were taken care of, he was worthless.

Kagome looked at Sesshoumaru, she just didn't get it. Sometimes he would just stand thee and argue with her till she was blue in the face and gave up. Then other times, such as this one, he would just go with the flow.

She shook her head, though an ass sometimes he can be very confusing… Sighing Kagome started rubbing her other foot, boy were they sore, especially the right one since she stepped on a sharp edged rock.

Kagome glared at nothing in particular, remembering the rock that caused her poor little foot pain… She didn't say anything though, figuring that she would just be a burden to the demon lord. So she kept her mouth shut and walked it off.

She then looked back at the demon by the tree, she knew he could sense her pain and he still didn't stop. 'What a jerk!' she thought with a spike of anger. Looking down at her foot she could see a slight bruise forming on the bottom.

Sesshoumaru looked at the miko; he raised his eyebrow when he felt her anger spike. He could only wonder what she could be angry at, he didn't make her get up and continue traveling. So what could she possibly be mad at?

Shifting his gaze from her face to her foot, he now understood her anger. He knew she was in pain a few hours back but he didn't know from what. He would've asked her but he didn't feel like getting his ear talked off, like she was doing since they started walking back to the palace.

So instead of wondering why she was in pain he kept walking, he thought that if it was bad enough that she would say something eventually... But to his surprise, she said nothing. Seeing the bruise on her foot told him that she must've stepped on something with a high point on it.

Now he understood her anger, and it was probably towards him, though he didn't care. Many fear him and many hate him, so why would it bother him if one more were added to the list…

High up in a tree, the woman had to shake her head. She watched as the two traveled and saw the miko step on the rock. 'He's gonna be a lot of work.' She thought slightly smiling.

Looking upon the two once again, she wondered how much effort it would take to get the great lord to see that deep down in his heart that he loves the little miko… She guessed that she would have to see what Sesshoumaru will decide as far as the miko traveling with him.

But until then she will stick around and watch the two and play with them a little as time goes by.

Slipping her shoes back on Kagome stood and walked over to the taiyoukai. "So how long till we get to your palace?" she asked standing a few feet from him, Sesshoumaru looked at her.

Gracefully standing keeping eye contact with her the whole time, he straightened his haori, "It will be a couple days travel… but if we keep the pace we walked today we should be there in just a day." He stated still looking at her with a bored expression.

Kagome only nodded at the information, "Well then… my feet feel better if were ready to go." She said smiling a little.

Sesshoumaru looked down into the face of the smiling girl. Her smile… for some reason he like to see that dazzling smile of hers… he didn't know why, but it made him relax inside.

Blinking once he looked straight ahead and started walking, Kagome stopped smiling and sighed. She wished that he would at least do something when she smiled at him. She would even take him telling her not to smile at him.

Anything would do for her, looking at the back of the demon and slowly started to follow.

Nose picking up a very slight scent, Inuyasha made a beeline for a little hut just outside of a major village. 'Kagome…'

Inuyasha burst into the hut and started searching, completely oblivious to the presence of the man and son whom resided in the hut.

Picking up a piece of wood the man started to swing at him, but stopped when Inuyasha quickly turned and caught his wrist. "Just what the hell do you think your doing!" he spat in the man's face.

"What am I doing? What are **you** doing? You just barge in here uninvited and un welcomed and start sniffing around." The man pulled his wrist free. "Just what are you looking for, to come barging in here like you did?" he demanded furrowing his brow in anger.

Inuyasha became hot headed quickly; he could smell Kagome all over this place. When he looked to the young man sitting on his bed, he could smell her there the most… Grabbing the older man by the collar of his haori he demanded answers. "Where's Kagome? I know she was here, I can smell her all over the place! So where is she?" he shouted.

The boy looked at the hanyou, remembering the conversation he had with Kagome before she left. 'This must be the half demon Kagome was speaking of.' He thought; with that in mind he stood and walked towards Inuyasha.

"Kagome isn't here… she left some time ago." He said making Inuyasha turn his head to face him. "How do you know?" Inuyasha asked raising an eyebrow at him.

The boy sighed "if you release my father we can take a walk outside and I'll tell you." he said, he knew this one was the half demon Kagome talked about for sure, he could tell by his stupidity and block headedness.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at him and thought about what he said for a minute before letting go of the man. He straightened his fire rat robe and followed the boy out of the hut.

"So what do you know about Kagome? Where is she?" questioned Inuyasha as soon as he got outside.

The boy turned around and hit Inuyasha up side the head. Inuyasha looked dumfounded for a minute before shaking his head and glaring at the boy. "And what the hell was that for?" he shouted

"That's for hurting Kagome the way you did!" He shouted back. "How anyone could hurt such a sweet, kind, gentle woman is beyond me…" He squared his shoulders and looked at Inuyasha with a serious face. "My name is Taro, and my father and I took care of Kagome. We were walking back home from the village and saw her collapsed form in the rain. Obviously running from you!" he said with an angered tone, which only made Inuyasha's ears flatten to his head.

"We took her in and took care of her, she fell ill and we nursed her back to health… She's told me about you, Inuyasha." Taro looked at him hard. "Now my question to you is after everything you've done to the poor girl, what could **you** possibly want with her?" he balled his fists at his side "haven't you done enough to her!" Taro shouted.

Inuyasha could only look away from him; he knew the boy was right. He knew he had hurt Kagome and he knew there was no fixing the damage he had done now. But that wasn't going to stop him from looking for her.

In that moment anger started to set in. this idiot let her go out on her own! Let her leave without any protection! And he's got the nerve to stand there and scold him! Inuyasha glared dangerously at Taro, his words as dark as his face. "Heh! You've got some nerve scolding me like you are,** when you let a poor defenseless girl like Kagome run off in the middle of the night without and protection to face kami knows what.**" his eyes flashed a dangerous red.

Taro gulped at his tone and stepped back once, even for a half demon Taro could feel the demon that lurked in the dark shadows of Inuyasha start to surface. 'He is no ordinary half demon.' He thought taking another step back. "Inuyasha I know you miss Kagome but what you did hurt her deeply in her heart." He tried to reason.

"Yes, you may want to find her to apologies but that isn't going to fix what you've done… you asked Kagome to do something special with you and then literally crushed any hope she thought she had with you." Inuyasha started to take deep breaths to try and calm down.

"I know what it's like to love a demon for I was once with one." Taro walked up to Inuyasha and put a friendly hand on his shoulder. "I lost her to another because she was royal… Trust me the pain hurts." He said with much emotion in his voice. Inuyasha looked at Taro and sighed.

"I understand… But I still have to find her. I'll never forgive myself if I don't apologies to her." He said more to himself than Taro, but he only nodded his head. "She left some time ago. I don't know where or which direction she went." He said and patted Inuyasha's shoulder lightly, then started to leave to check on his father.

"If I had to take a guess, I would say she headed further into the woods off west." With that said he left Inuyasha to ponder on his decisions. Inuyasha's eyes got wide as soon as the word 'west' passed his ears with only one name coming to mind… 'Sesshoumaru…' He thought then sprinted off into the woods going westward.


End file.
